8th Grade Promotion and Awards

Today was the 8th grade promotion ceremony/awards ceremony.  I have been wanting this day to be over for months now.  

In sixth grade, Justice was ranked number two in GPA rankings!  How awesome is that?  Well, if you ask ME, it's more than awesome!  I am pretty ok with anything that equates to giving it 100% effort.  

How do you think Justice felt about it?  Yeah, not so thrilled, it's written plainly all over his face although at the time I took the picture I didn't even realize it.  I was so happy for him I glossed right over it.

Sixth grade promotion ceremony

And so it began.  He kicked into a gear I don't even have to keep his grades as high as possible.  Seventh grade was fairly painless, and he ended the year with the number 1 GPA by less than 1/10th of a point.  It was close.

8th grade was HELL.  Remember, we started out the year medication-free?  He still got all A's, but not as high as normal.  Once he decided to start taking his medication again, he REALLY kicked it into high gear to try and gain some ground over that first grading period.

So, he worked HARD.  And he brought his grades up to nearly a 99% average.  

THEN, disaster struck.  His science teacher took a job elsewhere and he got a new science teacher for the second semester.  And they didn't click at all, and his grades plummeted.  Keep in mind my idea of plummet is from a 100 to a 70, but in reality Justice's definition of plummet meant he was getting a 95.  Not exactly a plummet, but it was enough to potentially kick him out of the top rankings, and he knew it.  

So he worked harder.  And harder.  And he realized that his science grade was not going to come up, so he over-compensated by getting his other grades up even higher to make up for it.  But, when graduation began looming around the corner, he became pretty grumpy.  He wasn't exactly a lot of fun to be around, he was a mess.  He was incredibly stressed out.  He was able to bring his science grade up to a 99, only to get an 84 on the final and have it brought back down to a 97.

He was pretty crushed.  But I maintained that just being in the Top Ten was GREAT, and that he needed to learn that he wasn't going to win everything and that he truly had done his best.  It was gong to have to be good enough.  

He was really stressed out, folks.  REALLY.  

Today was finally the day that I was just ready to get over and done with.  I was ready to have the summer to decompress and to get Justice rested up for high school.  Ugh.  I am NOT looking forward to this grades-struggle for the next four years.  I'm really just not.  

I let Jack stay home from school today to attend Justice's program.  It was important to Jack to support his brother.

Justice picked out his outfit himself.  Flashy, no?  

And yes, I had to take Bo, too.  Hahaha. 

Things started out pretty painlessly.  They announced the All-A students, and there were only 6.  

Then, they announced the GPA winners of the entire grade by course.

Justice had the highest GPA in Algebra, and also in Reading. 

After those awards, each teacher gave out awards by class.  

And Justice was awarded the Science Award for Outstanding Achievement in his class.

Wait, what?  The class he struggled in so badly?  What Justice doesn't realize is that if HE is struggling, HE is probably not the only one.

Then he was awarded a Social Studies Award for having the highest GPA in his class.   He absolutely loved his Social Studies Teacher this year.  He has always struggled in Social Studies, but not this year.  He had a wonderful teacher and he LOVED it.  

Things were looking pretty good for Justice Mack.  He received a whole bunch of awards today!

He was acknowledged by the Choir Director for being selected to All-West, with special recognition for being selected two consecutive years, and also for having the highest marks at All West auditions and being first chair for two years.

This is Miss Carole, Justice loves her very much.

And this is Alli.  I love Alli so much.  All has been Justice's competition since Kindergarten.  Alli and Justice have been number 1/2 all of middle school.  She is beautiful and strong and really smart!  

And THEN,  they finally announced the Top Twenty.  

Justice figured he was going to be in the top five, and I was hoping and praying he would be for his and my sake (lol).

Once they got to the top five and he hadn't been called, Jack began to cry.  He loves Justice so much, and he said to me, in tears...

"They haven't called his name yet Mom, what if they don't call it at all?"  I reassured him they were going to call it, they just hadn't yet.  He was actually gripping my hand really tightly and his palms were sweaty and everything.  Poor kid.

Once they got to the top 3, I turned the video camera on.  Thank heavens he was in the top 3.

Number ONE!  Valedictorian!  So happy, and just for the record, Jack was crying his eyes out with happiness for his big brother!

Now THAT is a SMILE!!!  A real, genuine, and very HAPPY smile!!

Justice Mack, this is for you.

We are proud of you.  We love you.  No matter if you are even in the running for any ranking at all, as long as you are giving it 100% of what you are capable of, that's all we ever ask from you.  You are the greatest gift I have ever been given.  ADHD, anxiety, insomnia, race, religion, whatever... you have your trials, and you work so hard to overcome them.  You are athletic, you are smart, and you are a pretty likeable kid.  Your peers trust you, your parents love you, and your teachers do to.  

Thank you for being such a hard worker.  Thank you for wanting to do well.  Thank you for being you.  

I love you with all my heart.  Always.